There Never Was Time...

Written by an anonymous author from their perspective on American life, particularly in the plain communities they have known...

There never was time...

To marvel at the thousands of sunsets that tinted the western sky with rosy hues.

To wonder at the sky blue robin's eggs that the boys found in the cedar trees by the house.

To walk to the woods and sit by the pond, observing the wildlife and hearing the boy's hopes and dreams.

To pause from the mountains of work created by a lifestyle of materialism and opulence to smile into a child's eyes, or simply rock a baby for no reason at all.

To sit with the family in the grass at dusk and watch the stars come out in the night skies.

To take the country walks they often talked of doing together.

To sit around the Word of God and marvel at its teachings.


There never was time...

To pause and slow down, sitting together with the family to pray over a sick child, or to bring a broken heart to God. It was always more important to get the work done and to push the hurting one aside.

To pray each night, hearing the hearts of the family and taking them to the only One who can hear our deepest needs.

There never was time...

To sit in the middle of the day sometimes and just play games with the children, or eat watermelon at the picnic table on a hazy summer afternoon with the family.

To grow their own food and share the bounty with the neighbors. Always they were in a rush and their attempts at growing a garden ended in disaster some years because their lives were full of trying to make lots of money to pay for all their expensive vehicles and the opulent lifestyle they chose to live.

To sit at the river's edge and watch the current move idly by...pondering life and love and all sorts of meaningful things.

To read a book by a quiet stream

To go on a walk with a hurting soul, letting them share their heart and pointing them to Jesus

To make the Lord the true King of their lives. Always there was a rush to get out the door in the mornings to work to pay the bills (a good third of them which were not needs but wants), or to rush off to revival meetings at church (because after all, the bishop will question you if you are not there). And then it was night and they were tired, and their physical bodies needed rest, but they didn't get to bed as early as they should have because their work kept them up late at night.


There never was time....



And how sad it was that in their old age, they had time to sit in their rockers, diseased from the rushed lifestyle and the rich food they ate in their opulence, while their children rushed about on the rat race their parents taught them to live. They had plenty of time then to think about what life would have been like if only they had taken the time God gave them and used it more wisely than wasting it in riotous living and gathering up treasures on earth and living in the here and now in the pursuit of happiness.

They now had time to wish their children and grandchildren had time to come see them, but they were too busy making a living to keep up with an even more opulent lifestyle than they themselves had lived. They had time now to hear their grandchildren complaining and demanding that their parents provide better things for them than the already expensive things they have been given.

They had time to wish that people had been more important to them than things.

They now had time to weep deeply at the life they could have lived, had they only chosen to take the time...

When Dreams Fail...

and yet, in the midst of life's brokenness, we should still make music to God
because He is worthy of our praise...

No one dreamed the day they married over 20 years ago, that she would fall asleep while driving school children home one day, resulting in an accident that impaired their middle child's brain, leaving them wondering if they would ever see her normally talking and walking again.

No one dreamed the day he was born, that in 8 short years he would be killed in a farm accident, abruptly taken from his place at his daddy's side, where he eagerly watched and learned how to do the work of a Farmer.

No one dreamed, the day he was brought home from the hospital by adoption that he would show signs of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder at age 5 and continue to create waves and ripples in their home for many years as they struggled to understand his brain disorder and tried with God's wisdom to know how to best care for him and prepare him for the future. No one saw the anguish of the parent's hearts or the many tears that have been shed for him as they walked thru their days. No one saw the crushed heart of his daddy, as he came to terms with the fact that his only son would likely not stand in his place one day as the head of the family.

No one dreamed that after years of pouring love and good teaching into their child, they would rise up in rebellion and anger, scorning the very life that their parents invested so much into them. No one saw the sobs behind closed doors as a mother knelt by her bed and prayed for her child. 

No one dreamed that after 25 years of marriage, things would fall apart and leave a spouse alone, told in no uncertain terms that they are no longer loved or wanted, deeply broken hearted to be so cruelly treated. No one saw the anguished heart as it fell before God many times, pleading that He restore their marriage and bring honor to Jesus' name.

No one dreamed that the parent would turn on the child they raised to believe in Jesus and who chose Jesus in all His simplicity...telling that (now adult) child that they are a disappointment and a stain on the family. No one saw the deep heart groanings of that 'child' as they cried out to God to bless their father anyway, even tho he doesn't understand that his child simply is carrying on the torch of faith he presented to them. 

No one dreamed, when they gazed at the face of their firstborn, beautiful baby girl that one day she would be given an infectious disease that they knew little about. No one saw the mother weep deeply,  held in the arms of her husband at night, who took her to Jesus in prayer. 

No one dreams up these things. We all want the happy things, the beautiful things, the things that cause us to feel like dancing on the rooftops and singing. No one says, yes I'd like to have all my dreams broken and I'd love to feel the pain that comes from desperate situations where there is no seeming answer. No one does that.

But what do I, as a child of God do with broken dreams? I believe that he wants me to trust his heart. I believe that he calls me to surrender all those dreams and let Him make from my life what He would have it to be. I do not understand many things in this world. But I do know that as His child, He ordains the circumstances of my life for my good and for His glory.

I humbly bow before him anew today, and say "Be it unto me, Lord, according to your will", words spoken by the mother of our Lord Jesus, who certainly did not dream of becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit before she was married.

In My Flesh Dwells No Good Thing...

This has been on my heart for years and I just felt inspired to write it down here, as I ponder a recent situation/discussion on the subject.

We have a flesh. I think all of us are keenly aware of it, altho in some religious circles, this seems to be a subject somewhat avoided and ignored, as if it didn't exist at all when one chooses to identify with Jesus or the interpretation of Jesus that the group may have. Somehow it has become a mindset that it's 'embarrassing' to admit that we have a flesh, I think because we are afraid of being misunderstood or dealt with harshly because you know, after you 'accept Jesus', you are supposed to somehow magically never struggle with the flesh again, because if you do struggle with the flesh, or if  you have a 'feeling from the fleshly side of things', then surely that means you are not truly walking with God. (said sarcastically, shaking my head)

We have a flesh. "In me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing." Paul wrote these words to his fellow believers around 2,000 years ago and it is still very true today because there is 'no new thing under the sun'. Mankind is always the same. Ever since the fall, we all have inherited a sinful nature and desperately need to be restored to our Father God through His son, Jesus. Every day that I walk this earth, I am grateful to God that He redeemed my life from destruction and crowned me with lovingkindness and tender mercy. But I am keenly aware of the fact that I have a flesh that I can choose to serve at any time. It takes a moment-by-moment commitment to trust wholly in the capability of the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth, a complete surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, in order for me to experience the fullness and the abundance of that life He came to give me.

We have a flesh. But please let's not celebrate it. It needs to be crucified and buried with Christ so that we can experience His resurrection power and newness of life. It is not something to celebrate that I am capable of acting in selfishness and godlessness.

That I can feel godless and selfish at times is definitely something true. However, what I like to tell young women that I counsel, and what I've learned in my own journey, is this: FEELINGS are not facts. FEELINGS allow you to decide whether or not to ponder that thought further, allowing it to pass through into an action, or to toss it out and replace it with something full of LIFE from Jesus.

I see people sometimes almost celebrating our flesh. I think this likely is a reactionary measure from being oppressed by a religious community in their youth but I would like to say that this is not really the response that God is looking for. He calls us to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us. He calls us to become NEW. Nowhere in this 'becoming new' do I see room to glorify the flesh. If I am called to glorify my Father who is in heaven, then I am called to bear my Cross, deny myself and put my fleshly 'feelings' where they belong.

So my encouragement in this blog post is two fold:
1. Don't celebrate the flesh.
2. Don't act like you have no fleshly feelings ever that you need to take to the Cross

There's a ditch on either side. May we follow our Lord Jesus on the narrow way that leads Home, turning neither to the left hand nor to the right.

I am deeply  humbled at the mercy and grace my Father has given me thru the gift of redemption. It is not of my 'works', lest I should boast in my accomplishements. Living a consistently free life is HIS doing. "Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it, seal if for Thy courts above."

That Others May See...

The many workings of God I will only ever see 'thru a glass darkly' 

on this side of eternity.

But something really stood out to me when I read this

 Psalm on this quote card one day this week, 

and then it popped up again in the "Praise Him Anyway" reading challenge

 that our family is doing several nites a week.

If I have been rescued from a pit and my feet have 

been set on a rock

and I have a firm foundation on which to stand,

this puts a song in my heart and I praise the Lord.

It's obvious in the last two lines of this Psalm

that the praise will radiate from my life and my mouth

because other people will see and fear the Lord

and put their trust in Him.

This sentiment is echoed in the Sermon on the Mount

where Jesus tells us to let our lights shine before men

'that they may see your good works and glorify

your Father which is in heaven'.

The purpose of people noticing the change in me?

SO that they may be reminded of Who is calling them

to repentance and a new life.

Nothing new here. But fresh thots that blessed my heart deeply.

Let us go forth in full and glad surrender,

loving the Lord and knowing Him.

We have a God who yearns to have us follow him fully,

and who has commissioned us to be witnesses that

Jesus lives!

Lessons from Tea Cups...

Recently, my daughters brainstormed into being a ladies' luncheon for the mothers and daughters at our little church. They asked me to share a some tea cup-related inspiration with everyone so I pondered a few weeks, and after asking the Lord, and some friends, I came up with the following:

Tea cups come in varied sizes, shapes, and with different marking or none at all. Some are exquisitely beautiful, while others are simply elegant. They come from different parts of the world and make their abode in our cabinets sometimes from far away.  But they all are created with a common purpose in mind: to hold something, whether it is tea, coffee, hot cocoa, little flower bouquets, floating candles, or potpourri.

So it is with people. We are all created by God. Some are tall, some are short. There are thick ones and thin ones. There are different skin tones and nationalities. There are different personalities. And we come from the four corners of the earth. But in all our differences, the Master Potter has created us all with one specific purpose in mind: To known Him and make Him known/ to love Him and others. No matter where we go in life, or where we've come from, always this is the single most important purpose, the Purpose of all purposes that He has in mind for us.

As we go through our lives, may we always remember the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31:

One of my friends sent me the following story when she heard that

I was giving a talk on tea cups at a ladies' luncheon. I was so blessed by it:

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go England to shop in the beautiful store. This was their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially tea-cups. They said,”May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful.”

As the lady handed it to them,suddenly the tea-cup spoke, “You don’t understand.” It said, “I have not always been a tea-cup.There was a time when I was red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, “Let me alone,” but he only smiled, “Not yet!!”
“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it !! I’m getting dizzy!’ I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook hid head, ‘Not yet’.
“Finally, the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it, Stop it!!’ I cried. He only nodded, ‘Not yet!’.
Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.
An hour later he handed me a mirror and said ‘Look at yourself.’ And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful.’

“I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I just had left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurts and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any colour in your life, and if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.” God knows what He’s doing [ for all of us ]. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mould us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.
– Submitted by Cathy Pinto

What a beautiful picture of the Potter and the clay.

And what reality it is many times as we go thru

the moulding and firing process...

we kick and scream until we figure out that 

He knows what He's doing and we yield to

letting Him produce in us the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

We enjoyed our day with the ladies.

There was pink. There were tea cups. There were white skirts.

And sheer lacey cloths. Candles. Tulips and icicle lights.

It was lovely.

(happy sigh)

I'm glad my daughters thot of this and

helped to get it accomplished.

The Root of Fruit...

So I've been thinking....I hear about New Year's resolutions and I applaud everyone who has goals at the beginning of the year for areas in their life that are lacking. I've done the same thing myself sort of as a commitment to God that I am willing to let him work in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness. God honors that and makes sure we have opportunities to grow in those areas as only He can.

The other evening we were discussing in Bible study with our church family the need to have the fruit of the Spirit as our 'goals' for  a new year. I had a 'revelation' that evening, but it really was an old understanding coming at me in a new and amazing way.

Paul lists the fruit of the flesh in Galatians 5, and then he lists the fruit of the Spirit. How beautiful the Spirit fruit is! But then he tells us HOW to produce that fruit after he lists it. It is simply by walking in the Spirit and living by the Spirit. How simply refreshing that thot was to me. If I am walking and living that way, then God will produce that fruit (HIS fruit) in me.

Often times we are walking through life and we don't really know what God is up to at the immediate time of his working. That's far beyond our comprehension. What all our obedience is giving him aid to do in our lives is too great for us to even see at the time of it's 'doing'. But in a few years, we can look back and see with greater understanding just what God was doing and how he was increasing the Life and Fruit in our lives.

We are well aware of the lack in our lives if we are honest. The truth of the matter is, we might as well admit that outside of Christ, we are nothing. Scripture says that. Outside of Christ, our righteousness is filthy rags and of no value to God. Only the life of Christ in us makes us acceptable and clean before the God of all the ages. If there is a weak area in our lives where we feel some of that Spirit fruit should be greater, all we need to do is ask our selves what roots we have left 'unaxed'.

We strive so hard sometimes to be right, to do the right things, and to produce that fruit that we surely as Christians MUST have. Thse are noble aspirations, but the work we really need to do is as Jesus said, to "lay the ax to the root of the tree", meaning to surrender all and to get ourselves out of the way. Paul calls it 'being crucified with Christ". Seriously, my friends, whenever we get to that place of complete brokenness in our lives, where we have laid down it all...the dreams, the hopes, the plans, the lofty aspirations to make a difference in the world in specific terms we have laid out, the family, the friends, the reputation, houses, lands...EVERYTHING...then the ax has sufficiently killed that root of selfishness and pride to the point that JESUS CHRIST is the theme of our lives.

While it is true that we can always choose to serve the flesh, we can get to a place in our lives where we truly are broken and we truly embrace the cross bearing life that Jesus called us to embrace. The Cross is an instrument of death. Everyone who heard Jesus' repeatedly say that to follow Him, we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross, understood the reality of the word picture he used because it was a common instrument used to administer the death penalty to criminals. If we 'fall on the Rock and are broken', fully surrendered to Christ in everything, then our biggest struggle will not be ourselves. Sure, we'll still be given the same opportunities to live for me or to live for Him, but the decision will be made and we will swiftly choose Him on a consistent basis.

If you do not know this kind of life and are a Christ follower, I am hear to shout out an encouragement that you truly can know that rest that He talks about in Matthew where he calls us to come unto him, all who labor and are heavy laden. BUT notice how he says our rest will come..."take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you will find rest for your souls'. So learning of Christ, thru carrying our cross that kills our flesh, is where true rest comes from. And this endless striving to have the right fruit and bigger fruit and more fruit will cease. No longer will we have to worry if we are producing it or not, because we WILL.

Is there no work to be done then? Absolutely yes...but the work is at the root level, in surrender and obedience to God. When that is our life choice consistently and daily, then the fruit will grow... God assures us of that. "Whatever you sow, that you will also reap".

I share this, at the beginning of 2017, to encourage us all to embrace the life of cross bearing that Jesus calls us to embrace. It is totally worth it. In it, there is LIFE and there is REST...

Love and blessings,
Marcia

PS
I feel incredibly blessed to have been trained by a preacher who speaks it simply but straight to the heart...Zac Poonen's sermons on this subject have stirred much hope in my heart thru the years and helped me to know how to lay that ax to the root of the tree. One sermon comes to mind where he tells the story of a certain insane asylum that had a test they gave patients to see if they were ready to leave the facility or not. They gave them a mop and a bucket, and then turned on a faucet in their cell and told them to clean up the mess. Only the ones who turned off the faucet were given a clean bill of health to leave the place. So it is in our Christian walk...we can use a mop and a bucket all the rest of our days on earth. Or we can turn off the faucet (lay the ax to the root of the tree). From the moment I heard this the first time, I knew which one I would choose! It has been the second most important decision of my life, the first one being that I turned from my sins and received salvation by faith in Jesus' Christ. The faucet sometimes gets bumped back on again, but God gives us the power to turn it off and live consistently in the realm of freedom that comes when we wear Jesus' yoke, which is easy and when we take on his burden, which is light. This is the hope of his resurrection!!! I am delighted that I get to live in it daily, by the power of my Savior!

The Story Behind the Song...

I thought I'd start a new series and share stories behind the songs or song writers

we love and know. The inspiration for this series idea and the story I will share with you today came from a sermon I was listening to the other morning while 'treadmilling'. Alistair Begg was preaching from 2 Tim. 2, and he emphasized the thot that Paul made that our strength does not come from within ourselves but from the Father who planned our lives. He went on to share the following song and the story of its author...

Annie Johnson Flint's story by Ravi Zacharias 

He Giveth More Grace

"When we've reached the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father's full giving has only begun"...

These words especially grab me when I listen to this song.

It's a natural thing for us to try to do things on our own strength.

But when we finally become weak and out of resources,

then can He be strong in us.

I don't know about you,

but I've tried that 'do it myself' bit enough time

to know that I don't want to live that way...

My prayer is that I will daily keep my 'slate' clean

before God so that I may hear His slightest whisper,

and not get distracted by what I THINK

should happen, or how I should do something,

but instead simply wait on direction from God,

then go ahead and promptly do it,

not stopping to process it thru

human reasoning...

no matter the sorrow, pain, or situation.

HE GIVETH MORE GRACE!

The Greatest of These...

I know I've blogged about love before, in particular, a few years ago when this subject was really becoming real to me in a huge way...but it's really on my heart again, so I'm going to share what's on my heart.

Experience...we all long for it with God...those visions and dreams and wild deliverances and amazing fireworks situations full of electrical moments that leave us dazzled and breathless. Somehow, I think we believe that if we have those experiences on a continual basis, it would be proof to us of the Holy Spirit's existence and presence in our lives.

Consider this for a moment...what if the Holy Spirit is a 'still, small voice' whose extraordinary power is shown in people living righteously thru the ordinary experiences of life where selfish unrighteous would normally exist?

That long hug from a wife to a husband who was annoyed at her and then asked for forgiveness...instead of her sulking in hurt silence...

A woman washing dishes in loving service at a family gathering where she has, in time's past, been gossiped about and slandered or else the conversation centers around nonedifying subjects that she prefer to not be involved in...serving them with a smile, instead of being angry at and rude to these people who profess with their lips to know God, but their lives defy that profession...

A man quietly serving his employer for years without recognition or gratitude from his boss...being disregarded and disrespected in many ways and yet faithfully fulfilling his jobs each day as tho the employer deserves the greatest of respect, thus prospering the business and honoring the Lord...instead of being rude and disrespectful and even gossiping about his employer to others.

Teenagers who choose to walk in the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus while many of their friends are busy with material pursuits and selfish ambitions...

A man who chooses to serve and bless others in the midst of deep heartache of loss when his wife left him, taking his children with her...


A widow, choosing to serve refugees with a smile in the midst of her own deep loss...

Families choosing peace with their religious communities, while walking in the simplicity in Christ, not asking to be understood, nor defending themselves while serving the Lord with gladness and reaching out to the honest seekers whom He brings to their door...

Parents, daily walking in grief from a child who suffers from symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome and displaying unexplainable acts that are wearisome and hard to understand...choosing daily to seek the face of God who has wisdom in every situation.

Jesus...who walked thru the crowds daily...often needed only because he could heal... gossiped about because religious people hated him...having no place to lay his head...argued with...piled upon with opinions of legalistic and selfish people who really didn't regard his personal space or time...

These are real life stories of people I personally know who are governed by a power beyond themselves to live a Life that Jesus came to give in abundance. Their lives display loudly and clearly 'the greatest of these' that Paul talks about in 1 Cor. 13~LOVE. This kind of fruit can only come consistently from the Holy Spirit, the 'wind that blows where it will'...

My heart cry in this post is that, at the end of the day, after all the exciting worship experiences we may have had, and beyond all the visions and dreams that He may have given to us that day, how have we loved? Have we noticed a fellow family member struggling to carry a big load (emotionally or physically, they are the same) and reached out to help in love? Have we acknowledged the cook's hard work to keep us fed nutritious and delicious meals...gratefully thanking them for their service? Have we taken the time to hear the hearts of our people in our homes and community that God sent us today? Have we kept our belongings put away, out of respect to the family and God? Have we offered to take on some of a family member's workload when we had a spare moment? Have we laid aside our own plans in favor of doing a group project that was suggested by a family member, even if it is a project we don't really relish doing (for me, that is playing most games :)? Have we refrained from complaining to a family member who was not as respectful or thotful towards us as they could have/should have been? Have we refrained from telling them every time they annoy  us but instead, quietly laid down that annoyance at the feet of Jesus (laying down our lives for our friends), and pray for them instead?

This is a challenge to me as much as anyone. I believe that there is a reason that Jesus and the apostles spoke so much of love being the proof that we are His.

If the greatest of all is LOVE...then let us choose to love. Let us not chase after rainbow moments that prove to us that God loves us and thinks of us, at the expense of being unloving in how we live. Let us simply receive with gratitude the days He gives us and walk thru each day's experiences with a surrendered and grateful heart, firm on the Rock and strong in the belief that He loves us beyond our wildest comprehension, so how can we not love others in that same way? It takes a lifetime of laying down ourselves, but what a display of the Holy Spirit when we live surrendered lives that produce the fruit of love...

PS

What I was NOT saying (because blog posts are like sermons, books, and text messages! You cannot cover all the bases in every one of them!)...

1. that I have learned to love perfectly and make no mistakes. We are all a work in progress, but at the core of our being, we should be consistenty and faithfully displaying the fruit of the Spirit if we claim to know Christ

2. that visions, dreams and amazing feeling in worship experiences are not part of a Christian's life. I have known them and do know them...what emotion it does produce when we know the God of all the Ages provided a way of redemption! But is that our main goal in life at the expense of loving, which is the 'greatest of these'?

3. I am better than anyone else because I dared to share...Like Paul, I truly honestly believe that outside of Christ, I am a sinner, 'among whom I am chief'...

Love and blessings,
Marcia

Walk A Mile In Their Shoes...

For as long as I can remember, my Grandma has

had this quote taped to her fridge door, just at eye level.

Thinking back on life now, I wonder what it was that

caused her to tape it there. Perhaps I'll ask her one day.

I thot of that quote today as I read a post that caused me to go

"Uh, there's more to people's stories than the reason you gave for

them not doing the thing you think eveyrone should be doing for their health, my friend"...

We do that, tho. Put people in boxes. Shaped by our own narrow thinking.

We say things like "It just an excuse that She says she doesn't have time
after taking care of  husband and children to help him with his bills
 by selling products from

home that would swell their bank account in no time"...
or
"She has a problem with her weight because
(fill in the blank) and (this) would fix it,
which may or may not be true in both cases,
and thousands of scenarios just like it. 

I sound a warning, my friends...Is that really fair? Do you even know

why that would look overwhelming to the woman who just turned you

down when you asked her if she wants to join your team
of wonderful salespersons?

Maybe she gave the husband and children as her reasons,

and I would say that perhaps that is "ALL" she can actually get accomplished

in a day's time...

Seriously...being a full time wife and mother is hard, hard work. It takes

real dedication to keep the house relatively clean, the family fed nutritious meals

that either required you to grow and preserve, or get out of the house to shop for...

then there's the homework or homeschooling, and the clothes to wash, sew, or buy...

besides all that, there are eternal souls in your care that will never die.

For many women this is a monumental task. 

Most women would look at the friend I mentioned above and say,

Well, good for you if you can do more than that. I don't wish to.

It would be too much of a distraction for me to run a home business,

besides the work I signed up for when I married and had children.

I do not write this post against women who have home businesses. 

If you can do that and help your husband out, go for it.

Proverbs 31 women do all kinds of things,

including buying and planting vineyards

(I believe culturally that passage means she actually hired

servants to plant and harvest her vineyard, to be brutally honest here).

And about the woman who has the weight issue you would love
to prove your product or way would be her lifesaver...
if you truly care, and found a way to share it, but she
wasn't really into it, let it go. Maybe she doesn't have the
money or the mental capacity just now to think about it.
Do you know that she may have PCOS
(look it up. It's real and it's hard!)
or some medicine that is preventing her weight loss,
no matter how much she wants to.
Perhaps down the road, she'll be ready,
and God will use you in her life,
but be patient and kind and please above all,
let's not be judgemental and holier-than-thou about it.

The point of my post is to say that we should be very careful how we

judge other people. Seriously, they may have a ministry you do not

even know about, including a ministry of prayer that takes TIME,

hiding them away in a prayer closet you do not see...

all the while you are judging them for not getting enough done

with their days.

It is so common for us to jump down someone else's throat
(or gossip about them or judge their situation) 

for something we do not understand...

like why they eat what they eat
(they bring their own food?! how rude! when if you took 

the time to learn about their life, you'd soon understand that

they honestly have a conscience against eating the rich foods

that are often served, or they have a serious food addiction/allergy/disease

they are healing from that rich food aggravates/slows down)

Or perhaps you can't figure out why they would not let their 

child have a sleepover ever. If you learned to know them,

you might find out that they feel it's better to be watchful and extra

cautious than to be as carefree about it as their friends are.

Or maybe you and your friends discuss why a woman doesn't

care to go to women's Bible studies...after all, what does she

do with her day?! Maybe she is busy in a deep time of personal growth,

or maybe she feels truly maxed out with her schedule and 

would rather have some time open instead of having every

spare moment crammed with planned activities, good as they may be.

Or maybe you cannot understand why someone is missing from Bible study

on a Wednesday evening. It's a good thing, and it's important...

but think about it. He's a farmer. Farmer's make hay when the sun shines.

They cannot make hay (or harvest corn!) when it rains.

This is his livelihood, the way he provides food and raiment for his family.

How about blessing him for taking his responsibilities seriously,

instead of idolizing collective Bible study?

What about having an opinion about someone's everyday choices
that have no eternal value? Do those things really need to be said?
Or are you simply a controlling person who cannot stand to leave
things unsaid if you feel your way is the best way?
What is in our hearts spills out. Jesus said as much.

Yes, this subject is a passion of mine.
I think it partly comes from living with
my dear Farmer for 20 years. He is the most
unassuming, gentle, 'benefit of the doubt' person
I have ever seen and I believe that he has
taught me alot about how to live this way...
and Jesus changed my heart, too because I
used to be a very easily critical person.

Let's be kind.

Let's not criticize.

Even if they would be doing something

wrong, it is much better to pray for them

and to appeal directly to them about

the need in their life

rather than despising them,

or criticizing them,

or gossiping about them to your friends.

PS
This in no way means that we never speak truth
into another person's life. I realize it's hard to cover
all the bases in one blog post.
This post is meant to focus on
being quick to respect,
and very slow to judge or criticize
based on our personal opinions.

The Fellowship of the Saints...

This has been on my heart as the Lord has been walking me thru this the past few years...

I guess I'd say my 'enlightenment' started in 2004, when I followed my Farmer East from MO to manage my dad's farm. I was a new Christian, and had been so blessed to have my sister-in-law nearby to disciple me and to share hearts with in the Titus 2 model, and in my new surroundings, I wasn't part of a congregation where the ladies easily talked about the Lord in their conversations that surrounded gardening, tupperware parties, and new dress fabric. I love discussing the everyday things of life, but it always felt lonely that there were many Sundays I would come home from church without having any deep conversations with anyone. I was glad for a very close friend from another church also was used to disciple me and to share hearts as sisters in Christ...for about a year after we moved, until she was called to another state 10 hours away. I was devastated. And lonely. But trusting God with the need of my  heart.

As the years rolled by, and my husband and I were called to go thru some trials and troubles, and to walk alone in many things, God brought to me a deep settled peace and contentment about all that. If He has me wherever He needs me to be, and how can I be unhappy about that, and instead why not simply plug in and minister to whoever He calls me to, while fellowshipping with JESUS?

I was devastated again when a friend shared that she doesn't like to be in conversations where others are speaking Scripture and encouragement into her struggle. She said she already knows what to do, she just wanted a place to vent. Since that time, I've met up with other women who feel the same way, and I wonder why? My heart desires the model for fellowship that God set up, one of them being 'speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs...' I delight in it when someone goes out of their way to share like that with me. I love it when there are good sharing conversations going on in the simplicity that is in Christ (not mixed with other religions).

God's heart is also that we fellowship with believers. The model he set up for fellowshiping (mentioned above), and the example we have from the early church where they 'daily' gathered together for prayer and sharing is an amazing window into what a gift God has given us in encouraging and teaching each other, sharing what God has been doing in our lives and thus, helping each other along the way to find courage, stability and new growth. I wonder why would we not all be jumping for joy if we are given those opportunities?

(could it be that some of us are too proud to let others speak into our lives?

could it be that we have oppressed people so much by the legalism found

in many of our religous backgrounds and we are gun shy?

could it be that we have gossiped about and slandered others and shot our wounded,

thus rendering people fearful and untrusting?)

I had to go thru a season where I walked a wilderness of loneliness, learning to be totally fine with the fellowship I found with JESUS, and the few that I found to share with who had moved away but could still communicate in other ways. I learned to be deeply grateful for fellowship in whatever form it was given to me, and to not insist that it happened in the way I thought it should.

I have been incredibly blessed with fellowship these days from many different places...The wonderful world of technology can be used for the glory of God, folks, if we but let it! I have known the joy of sharing on numerous techie places...the inspirational interaction with my friends on Facebook and Google plus is great!...the group hangouts and voxer chats I've known that centered on the fun, the godly, the serious, the funny, but always because Jesus as our common Denominator, have been quite a blessed encouragement to me... the texts messages and the Pinterest pins I am sent are amazing and delightful, challenging, encouraging, and uplifting. I've loved interacting with young people each year at Youth Bible School, and I've enjoyed hearing my daughters' hearts throughout the weeks God has given us.

We NEED each other and I would say that however you can be an encourager, 

go for it, if it is a godly way. 

In my journey, I have learned that it is not a good idea to push thru and insist that people have conversations that involve sharing hearts in the Lord if they do not want to. But I learned to appreciate community wherever it is found, and to get involved in whatever spiritual discussions land on my doorstep, delighted that God would send that my way. If you know of people that do not want to share with you in this way, then move along, let them be them, respect them and find community for yourself that is similarly minded. If you cannot find that, wait on the Lord. He will send to you who you need and when you need it.

If you have known loneliness, you just might be needing to let GOD be your all in all. He does that with His children who are serious about letting Him grow them and change them. He knows that we need that time of wilderness sometimes to get us to totally depend on Him for everything we need. 

My Father supplies all my needs. Thank you to each of you, my dear friends, for the encouragement  you have been to me...from wherever you are and however you send it to me. I am glad to know fellowship locally in my own geographical location, too...Thanks ladies from my church and surrounding churches. You have all been a blessing to me.

Make it Count...

So many thots swirl thru my head as I read, ponder, observe, experience, and do each day. So, in the 'spaghetti-brained' fashion that is so often a description of a woman's mind, I take the plunge this morning and 'pen' a few lines.

Life is a gift. You may feel depressed, or be stumbling in grief, or pine for what isn't that God created to be but someone is unfaithfully neglecting their post, or you may be passive and complacent without vision or goal... Wake up, my friends. You are here on this earth for a specific reason. You are in this generation because God needs you to love Him and others, drawing to Himself all who will come to Him (and using the redeemed to be His witnesses and drawing power, many times). This life that is a gift is not to be squandered away in pornography, or petty focus, or in hobbies that require time that you could be giving to love and bless others (I'm not talking about the 'down time' that we need sometimes in the 'desert' to rest, but in your resting, be productive. Feed your soul, become refreshed by refreshing others even in little ways, and always be in tune with the Holy Spirit's direction in your day). Don't waste the day being sad and pining for what you wish was. Get out there, embrace the day! Feed your body wholesome fuel so that it can be healthy and well to do the work God is calling you to do. Go on country walks and admire the beauty of wildflowers, using some of that time to pray the Creator of the wildflowers about whatever He puts on your heart to speak to Him about. Take some of that time to be quiet and listen to the thots He downloads into your heart. Take the time to admire the sunsets He paints (how many thousands do we miss?!) Plunge yourself into the Word of God and in whatever fellowship of the saints that God gives you (Be careful! Fellowship is an idol to many where God intends it to be a gift to spur us on to doing His work. Receive it however He gives it and do not insist that it is given in the way you feel it should be. God always provides. YES, I'm being vulnerable here and sharing what I've learned from personal experience...) Take the time to enjoy your people, whoever they may be (do you know them? What they appreciate...what makes them smile...etc or are you too busy scrolling Facebook posts and playing on your phone to notice? Yes, this is preaching to me, too!)

Stoop. Bend to tend that broken person that God brings to you today. Kneel to hear a child speak. Be aware of your surroundings, and of how the Spirit is moving you to meet whatever needs He puts in your path. How many days do we sail thru, 'mindlessly' (there is no such thing, according to Scripture!) missing so many opportunities to make a difference in someone's life because we are busy doing our own thing, feeding our own pleasures, and even walking in sinful behavior that no one else but God can see?

Only one life we have. Then it's all over and we will spend an eternity answering for how we lived God's commission on earth.

There are many young people needing discipling. There are parents whose weary hands we can lift up. There are grandparents who could use our physical help and our time to listen to them teaching and reminiscing on their life. No matter what age a person is, if God brings them into your life, seek His heart on how to relate to them and how to encourage them. Make your moves count. Make your
life count!

Are you sad because your family is broken? Are you sad because you never were (and still aren't) close to your parents? Does the pull of addiction lap at your feet daily? (You can fill in the blank but I name some addictions here that are more common among those who name Jesus' name than you would think: pornography and overeating/eating junk food. Both give that dopamine push in the brain that drugs do, which satan uses to pull us over to his side during times of sorrow or weakness. Be aware of it and plan your strategy before tragedy/trauma/sorrow hits!) Do you spend your days pining for different circumstances? I am well aware of these things, both in myself or in the people I have mentored/encountered in life. Please know that there is hope and joy and LIFE abundant in the name of Jesus. Whoever will call on the name of Jesus WILL be saved. Call on His name and walk in His presence. In His presence is FULLNESS of joy. It's true. I can say it's true, both because God says it in His word and because I experience it. The freedom in surrender is beyond words. Try it. You will know it too.

Life is short. Eternity is long. What are we going to do with those 86, 400 seconds in each day that God gives us? Will we spend the seconds living for Him, or will we spend them for ourselves? The difference shows ups fairly quickly in the fruit that grows from our choices. I know Who I want to use the seconds for. What about you?


Because of Jesus, for Jesus, by the power of Jesus...for His glory always.

~Marcia

PS
If you feel alone without anyone to pray with you or for you, or if you wish for counsel/discipling, please feel free to drop a comment here. It does not get publicly seen unless I choose to publish it. I will never publish private information but dropping a comment here is one way that I can be contacted. I have a little group of friends who are willing to pray with people, disciple people, and pray for people with heart needs. We extend our love and blessing to you today.

Honest Confessions of a Discipler...

So Jesus tells me in his two-part "Great Commission" in Mt. 28:18-20 that I am to 'teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded.' To do that is to be a discipler (teaching someone to be a follower of Someone).

I never cease to be amazed at how God takes a vessel of clay like me and brings me hard things to break me of myself, then uses that same vessel even during the lifelong process of 'being changed from glory to glory'. That's a mystery.

I know me. I know how many days I feel the waves of the past lapping at my feet, threatening to suck me into a black abyss of unknown depths. I know the trauma from my past and I know the sinfulness that I am capable of outside of Jesus, and every single day, there is an enemy mocking me and trying his very best to pull me back into the horrible pit that God brough me out of when He set my feet on the Solid Rock.

I marvel at how God brings peace and grace in a flood beyond comprehension over my life every day that I choose to tend the broken, despite my own undoneness and my own need of mending. I am constantly amazed at how, even when I feel I have no resources when a need arises that God calls me to tend to, He is there with all the resources and equips me for that which He calls me to do.

I keenly feel the truth of Jesus' words, "The fields are white unto harvest but the laborers are few." All around me are sleeping Christians, or half-sick ones who have never walked honestly through their 'stuff' and found the King of kings to truly be their Lord of all. I encounter Christians who are weak because they are cumbered about with many things of earth and don't seem to realize that heaven is their home. There is a revolving door on my house and often I wish to share the load with others who could be just as capable if they would choose to let God break them of their other loves that take them away from being white hot with His Holy Spirit fire. I weep...in loneliness and longing to put my shoulder against the shoulders of others and together labor in the fields. (Oh, I am so deeply grateful for ALL the wonderful reapers I do encounter, tho. Don't get me wrong. I simply say here that they seem far and few between, and I understand from Scripture that this is reality in anyone's life who is a laborer in God's vineyard)

There are days that I go into my room and weep before God at the staggering needs around me...my children as they ask heart searching questions and walk thru temptations I cannot shield them from...the young man who is lonely and has been rejected by many and needs love and guidance...the young woman who was sexually abused and needs someone to walk with her thru that broken place and find God to be her everything...the young woman whose father is facing a prison sentence who needs help to find the loving God who is over her life and always has been...the wife and mother who say on my porch with me and poured out her burdens and longings...the young people who are disillusioned at the religious pride of their parents and church leaders, who would throw in the towel and say they don't want church when really they do want 'church' (Christ's true body) and are simply rejecting the Jesus they known from the false christ they have been shown...the couple whose marriage is on rocky ground who cry out for some real answers...the needs are great. The hearts are crying for God.


I confess that at times I find myself infuriated with the ones whom God called to be at a certain post but they come up unfaithful in one way or another, causing these little ones to stumble. But I turn my heart toward compassion and grief for those sinners as well, longing to meet with them and restore them to their children, who sit with me in deep heart break over the sins of their 'fathers'. I long to see them reconciled and being witnesses that Jesus lives. You see, I still 'believe that the Christ who was slain on the Cross has the power to change lives today/For He changed me completely, a new life is mine/That is why, by the Cross I will stay...' I believe that and I truly long for all the sinners to come home and be changed by the Savior who changed me. "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see" is not only true in my life but it can be in anyone's life and I choose to allow God to press that on my heart instead of bitterness and anger.

I confess that I lose sleep at times over this harvesting job. I see in my dreams different people who God brings thru my doors and my life and I toss on my bed at night as their sorrow becomes mine. I sometimes weep for my own broken places, the places I cannot fix and that depend on other people's cooperation to be truly 'fixed'...I lose sleep, but not in worry so much as in prayerful concern. It feels like a great privilege to me to be awakened in order to care and pray and weep over someone's heartache and need.

I am humbled that the God of heaven chose vessels of clay through which to do some of his work. I know who I am outside of Jesus Christ and who He still needs to make me. But I am willing to be his servant and I feel privileged to minister life to others. I can love much because I have been loved much. I can show grace because He has shown me much grace. Much is required of me because I have been given much. I know that I can never repay Him the debt I owe, but I give him my life.

Jesus came to serve, not be served. This I am reminded of over and over again in those days when I feel I'm tending but 'who is tending my heart?' I am made of dust and sometimes the feelings are real and I just want to be the 'tended'. God is amazing. He makes sure every single need of mine is taken care of. Not always in the way I would have thot He should, but whatever He does, He does well. Focusing on surrender and not insisting on being 'tended my way in my timing' helps greatly. And the words of Isaiah 58 are true...when we turn our hearts to God and to tending the broken, we are quickly healed. It amazes me over and over again how the rewards for obedience are many and quick to arrive.

Will you join me? Will you let God break you of all that you would pridefully cling to of yourself so that you can mature and go forth into the fields that are white unto harvest? Will you join me in weeping and praying? Will you love God with your all so that you can love your neighbor as yourself?

Healing Comes Through Loving...

Recently, my husband preached a sermon at church...his thoughts on the common

problem that has been around in churches for generations...the problem of trying

to climb up into the sheepfold of God by some other way than by the 

blood of Jesus Christ...

This manifests itself in myriads of ways, from trying to earn salvation

by worshiping traditions and thus controling people through

trying to force them to dress a certain way or to practice a certain way

in things that God clearly allows 'differences in administration' in,

to indifference and saying that God will accept me and I don't have to

walk His way in order for me to be saved.

One thing that really stood out to me was sort of a 'rabbit trail'

thought as he was reading Isaiah 58. In the NLT it really stood out to me.

When we give our lives to God and in our love and devotion to Him,

we dedicate our days to tending the broken and needy in our lives,

then we ourselves are healed.

I have looked back alot the past few weeks as that Scripture came to me.

And it's true...when I chose to lay down my life and give over to God

 all the hurts and sorrows from trauma and grief I experienced,

then God brought to my life those who needed me to be

brave and loving...

my husband, my children, relatives, friends, young people...

and there were many days that I felt stretched

beyond what I was able to give because of my own

painful feelings, but I consistently kept on loving and giving.

And you know what? God healed me. I don't know exactly when

it happened. I can't say what the time frame was when I finally
FELT healed...

but I do know that Isaiah 58 is true...

first because God said it and also be cause I've experienced it.

So today, I want to encourage anyone who feels torn up

inside because of life's trauma and pain...

whether it's from the death of a loved one,

or the shattering pain of being rejected by loved ones,

or because you have been despised by others,

or because you have decided to follow Jesus

in the simplicity that He brings but your church

doesn't agree that you are on the right track and are

treating you rudely...

I know those times are soul crushing and

can be extremely painful.

Can you hear me when I say...

healing comes from loving God and loving others?

One day at a time.

One moment at a time...

quietly giving your cares to Jesus,

and don't dump them out in frustration 

on others....

"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

If you would like prayer, or someone to share with,

feel free to leave a message on this post. It will

not publish but I will see it and will be glad to pray for you

or share more with  you if you wish.

When Satan Lies...

I hear women on a regular basis sharing that they just "can't get it right" or that they "are so sinful and how can they ever be useful?" and similar sentiments.

I carefully say that, while it matters a great deal that we are truly walking in repentant faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus, ladies, I so deeply long for us to walk in confidence in Him.

The fact is, if we truly are walking in His footsteps, making Him our everything, then we have all that we need for life and godliness. We can REST, knowing that we will be where we belong each hour of the day that we are choosing His life, and we will say what He calls us to say, do what He calls us to do, and NOT do or say what is not His plan for us to do or say.

We will never ever get it right outside of Jesus Christ. We will never ever be able to make it on our own strength and in our own righteousness, which is as filthy rags.

So my dear friends, let your heart soar with the knowledge that you are loved and given LIFE by our Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Listen to the thots He presses onto your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit which He gifted us to guide us unto all truth.

We have the power in the name of Jesus...satan cannot do anything in our life but try to stop us, unless we let him. He is defeated by the Redeemer of our souls.

Will you join me in standing firm on the Rock of all the Ages? Will you stand with me in the confidence we have in Christ Jesus? Will you choose with me to let our roots go deep into Him and to have us grow upward, bearing much fruit and living His abundant life that He wills for us to have?

Power in the Name of Jesus

Making Disciples...

The subject of making disciples

is very close to my heart,

and I just want to share with you...

Please know that I am very aware that

this is a HUGE subject with many different trails,

and I know and appreciate that

many people are actively engaged in

discipling others.

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel,

baptizing them in the name of the

Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost.

TEACHING THEM

TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS

WHATSOEVER I

HAVE

COMMANDED."

Jesus spoke those words, recorded for us

in Matthew 28:18-19

In the past few  years, I know I've had

my eyes opened in a new way

to how rare a thing it seems to be

that actual discipling is being done

in the churches.

To disciple means

that first of all I need to be a

follower of the One I

am teaching others to follow.

It means that I must have my

eyes fixed on Jesus Christ

so that I can continually

be growing and being changed

by Him...

thus, in turn, will I

have something to offer

the broken who He sends to my

doorstep.

To disciple someone means that

I must be willing to lay my own

life down in order to take the time

it takes to have a relationship with

the one I am discipling.

I put a challenge out for all the

Christians who read this.

Do you really need to take the time

for that expensive hobby?

Is someone lonely or being untended

at the expense of your expensive

and exclusive vacations?

Do we really need all the 'me' time

we think we do?

Or can we take some of that time

to make freezer meals for

the bachelor in our church

who works full time and has

little time or even energy left

to cook himself healthy meals.

Do we take the time to write notes of

encouragement?

There are millions of ways to do

that these days...thanks to the wonderful

invention called the internet. It can even take but

seconds to send someone a message

to say you are thinking of them and hope they

are finding hope and joy in their day.

You never know where those kinds of

gestures will lead you.

From my experience, finding the 'right'

person to disciple doesn't need to be a

chore, nor is it even my job.

That is God's job.

I need only to have a deep and true

relationship with Him,

and a willing heart to be

a reaper in the field He calls me to.

In Psalms it tells us that

God sets the lonely in families.

How well are we as the

hands and feet of Jesus

doing in being those

families to the lonely?

Perhaps that afternoon you

took time to include someone else

in your life will be a means

to helping that person to

find courage to keep walking

this rocky road Home to God.

Maybe that note you send

will be the means of opening a

blocked cave in some struggling

person's heart in ways that

might not have happened

otherwise.

Let's listen to the voice of God

and let Him lead us in

discipling others.

We can't all do it the same way,

but we can do our part with the

same LOVE that sent

Jesus down to earth

to be a ransom for us

and set us free to

be witnesses that He

still changes lives today.

It is not always easy or convenient to disciple others.

BUT do you think that Jesus had ease or

convenience while He ministered those three years

before He died?

He gave up sleep on many occasions

(Nicodemus comes to mind, as well as the wild and scary boat ride

where the disciples roused him from slumber).

He gave up comfort

("but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head").

He gave up the warmth and comfort of being with

those who loved him wholly

(Think: His friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha)

to go minister to the broken and needy.

He risked His life...

He had to deal with people who were jealous,

needy (who goes on a long journey without food???)

and needed him to bail them out constantly,

and then He was falsely accused and killed

after He had spent all those days and hours

ministering to others.

I doubt that any of us will ever

be as inconvenienced as Jesus was.

I am in awe how He dealt with the crowds

and the individuals that came to Him.

He is a great example to me on how to

relate to those God puts into my life.

So whether it is your children, or young people,

or neighbors, or relatives, or whoever it is,

remember that God plans for you to pass along to

anyone He sends you the Good News of the Gospel.

We lead by example.

We show by our words and our actions just

what the heart of God is.

What message are you giving to others today?

my friend, Heidi Wall, 'discipling' her young ones...

and didn't even know she was encouraging me at the same time!

My life has been incredibly blessed in the reaching

out to others. For me, it has been mostly my children

and young people that God has called me so far to

disciple but there have been a few others as well.

But in the ministering that I have obeyed God in doing,

I have been blessed beyond words with

friendships offered, love given, and

the fruit of eternal life growing in these dear ones.

I will never be the same.

And I don't miss the things I gave up

in order to have the time and resources

to disciple others.

Will you join me?

Eternity is long.

Life is short.

Let's give every day He gives us

back to Him in service.

Love and blessings,

Marcia